Many refugees welcome a strong leader governing Germany through force, when necessary, while their values might be closer to those of the anti-migrant far-right groups than many would believe, a local poll claims.

An astonishing conclusion – probably able to shift popular imagination on migrants’ mindset – has been made by a Berlin-based High School for Media, Communication and Economics (HMKW), which released its comprehensive poll called ‘Refugees 2016’ on Monday.

While the majority of refugees said they support democracy and freedom of speech, paradoxically, 64 percent of them believe the best type of state should include “a leader who governs Germany with a strong arm for the sake of all.”

The same number of migrants said it is critically important for any society “to maintain law and order, and, when necessary, through coercion.”

Many refugees believe that “what Germany needs now is a united strong party which embodies people’s community,” the study concluded, and that in certain circumstances dictatorship is the best type of state.

Though the study embraced nearly 1,000 respondents and is not fully representative, it offers an insight into what refugees stand for and what they believe in. Dr. Ronald Freytag of the HMKW, who authored the survey, said that never before migrants’ values and political beliefs were in focus of in-depth research.

In an apparent reference to conservative values, 43 percent of refugees said they do not welcome same-sex relationships and would not like to have gays as neighbors. Nearly half of those interviewed – 48 percent – believed that having sex before marriage “is a sin.”

An absolute majority of migrants, which amounted for 87 percent, agreed to a statement that “religion is a private issue,” but only 13 percent would welcome an inter-faith marriage between a Muslim and a Christian.

Quite surprisingly, though, 65 percent were in favor of alcohol consumption, and 52 percent for an opportunity to convert from one faith to another.

“Religious fanaticism is not a typical value among refugees,” the study stressed, referring to 77 percent of male migrants welcoming gender equality.

“Political views of refugees are rather similar to those of the AfD [party] and PEGIDA [movement],” the scientific paper said in conclusion.

The findings turn out to be mind-blowing, given that both far-right groups view migration and refugee flows as the most dangerous threat to what they call Germany’s Christian identity and traditional culture.

Recent polls suggested that some 60 percent of people believe that Islam cannot be part of the Germany, while considerable amount of Germans would not like construction of new mosques throughout the country.